NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Orbit Control Operations for the Cassini-Huygens MissionThe Cassini-Huygens spacecraft was launched in 1997 as an international and collaborative mission to study Saturn and its many moons. After a seven-year cruise, Cassini began orbiting Saturn for a four- year tour. This tour consists of 157 planned maneuvers, and their back-up locations, designed to target 52 encounters, mostly of Saturn's largest moon Titan. One of the mission's first activities was to release the Huygens probe to Titan in December 2004. Currently in its last year of the prime mission, Cassini-Huygens continues to obtain valuable data on Saturn, Titan, and Saturn's other satellites. Return of this information is in large part due to a healthy spacecraft and successful navigation. A two-year extended mission, beginning July 2008, will offer the opportunity to continue science activities. With a demanding navigation schedule that compares with the prime tour, the Cassini Navigation team relies on operations procedures developed during the prime mission to carry-out the extended mission objectives. Current processes for orbit control operations evolved from the primary navigational requirement of staying close to predetermined targeting conditions according to Cassini science sequence planning. The reference trajectory is comprised of flyby conditions to be accomplished at minimal propellant cost. Control of the planned reference trajectory orbit, and any trajectory updates, is achieved with the execution of Orbit Trim Maneuvers (OTMs). The procedures for designing, processing, and analyzing OTMs during Cassini operations is presented. First, a brief overview of the Cassini-Huygens Mission is given, followed by a general description of navigation. Orbit control and maneuver execution methods are defined, along with an outline of the orbit control staffing and operations philosophy. Finally, an example schedule of orbit control operations is shown.
Document ID
20150014737
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Conference Paper
External Source(s)
Authors
Williams, Powtawche N.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Gist, Emily M.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Goodson, Troy D.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Hahn, Yungsun
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Stumpf, Paul W.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Wagner, Sean V.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 3, 2015
Publication Date
May 12, 2008
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Meeting Information
Meeting: SpaceOps 2008
Location: Heidelberg
Country: Germany
Start Date: May 12, 2008
End Date: May 16, 2008
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
navigation

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available